plus get this document shredder free-- but only if you act right now. call the number on your screen now! stuart: here it is. the highlight reel. the americans with disability act now covers people with food allergies. if they do not do that, you sue. >> do not bet on the constitution. these guys keep changing the laws left and right. >> they want the government to take care of people. >> we use to get rabbit and some other things. stuart: your honor, my child excluded from the cafeteria. poisoned and school. give me a million dollars. >> all i grew up with was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and school. >> peanut butter and jelly is the best sand -- sandwich.

stuart: i was surprised. >> they owe you money. sue them. stuart: dagen and, oh, it is yours. dagen: on american. connell: i love peanut butter, myself. good morning, everybody. dagen: what will the president do to get america back to work. connell: president obama was unable to talk these guys. more importantly, can we keep this up? dagen: a key to a better economy. keys to your house, a new house hopefully. connell: let's talk about the markets.

nicole petallides starts us off as she does each day with stocks now. nicole: taking a look at a market that really has shown strength over the last seven of the past nine weeks. the dow trading as high as 13,682 prior to pulling back here into negative territory. we are seeing multi- year highs. while they see the trend to the upside, they rally to resist it levels. i wanted to take a look. it was lower in the free market. the cfo, chief financial officer, gave an outlook for 2013. it is now trading higher on this conference call. their wireless margins took a jump. a good outlook. back to you. dagen: thank you.

congress is heading back to work just one day after president asked both parties to come together and stand behind his visions. connell: house republicans may be less than willing to join him. rich: so is the bipartisan goodwill. the effects of the inauguration starting to disappear a bit from washington. some tourists remaining in town. we expect them to drop the same lines we have seen for the last few terms. when you look at the president address from yesterday, more of a broader theme, a grand defense of the federal government. there was also discussion on entitlements from the president. they do not make us a nation of takers, they free us up to take risks.

a top republican says we need to address spending on entitlements. >> if we do not work together to strengthen our entitlement programs, they will go bankrupt. automatic cuts will be forced on seniors who are already receiving benefits rendering worthless there retirement that they built their lives around. rich: the house tomorrow will vote to extend the debt ceiling to may 19, as long as the senate and house both pass a budget. if not, this bill prescribes that it gets held back is not. dagen: thank you. president obama mentioned just about everything from gun control to climate change in his inaugural address. one thing was almost missing, though.

jobs. joining us with more is steve moore. he laid out his agenda, a whole host of things. why not focus on jobs. does he think that this recovery is so on track that jobless rate will continue to fall, steve? >> i was struck by that also. in the whole speech, he did not talk about jobs. he did not talk about private business and entrepreneurs. it was a very pro-government speech. the president has a big challenge ahead. we still have a near 8% unemployment rate in this country, chipolte, over the last four years of this suppose it recovery. i do not think he mentioned the word jobs in that entire speech.

dagen: three times. we did a quick count. >> i stand corrected. dagen: if you go through the list of things that he covered, that he wants to tackle, i said gun control at the top, immigration, climate change, equal pay for women, i could go on, but if he focuses on this, what does that do to the economy? what does that do to jobs? if you look at the broad overall agenda, i do not think a lot of this helps the economy much and i do not think it helps the employers. we just had a big capital gains tax, a big dividend tax. you have obamacare that is coming down the pipe which it employers with more than 50 workers in a lot of employers are already holding back on their employment because of

that. then we talk about things like coffee and trade and climate change legislation. i do not want to be entirely negative here. you mentioned the fact that the housing market is picking up. no question about that. ironically, here is the irony of this president, the number one factor that is creating jobs in the economy over the last three years has been the oil and gas sector. dagen: you would be not a smart politician if you got in the way of that in the next four years. steve, by the way, 2100 words in that address and job or jobs was noted three times. steve, it was great to speak with you. >> people should read in our "wall street journal" today, we have an excerpt from ronald reagan's inauguration.

the job market was really expanding back in. dagen: steve, great to speak with you. take care. connell: we brought in chief market strategist from america financial and. the question today is can this continue, david? >> i do not think it will continue at that case. you have the federal reserve doing everything in its power to make sure that this economy stays on track. that is number one. number two is inflation is well

behaved. you also have corporations that have deleveraged their balance sheets. and you now have the consumer coming back as well. when you add all of this together, the improvement in the energy sector, foreign economy starting to do a little bit better, i think the stock market do well in the second term. just not as good as the first. connell: what if they mess it up again in washington? we will go into another round of negotiations, maybe we won't, on the debt ceiling. maybe we go over one of them. you have to take that into account. how does that change your odds taking capability as you look at the markets? >> you do have to take it into account. no question. maybe we will get beyond some of this and the first half of this year. at least enough to allow us to look beyond it.

i think between now and then, no question we will be dealing with these deadlines coming up in the next few months. connell: do you still buy stocks? our stocks at the place be? it will be very interesting to see what happens with interest rates. you talked about that accommodative federal reserve that is there. there will be this push / pull on that side of it. >> i do think market rates will be drifting higher. the ten year note yield will be around 2.25. i think that will pull people off to the sidelines into the housing market. they will not rise so much that we will derail or anything. a little bit of something to watch, but not a real problem. connell: it has been a good run. david, thank you. david joyce. >> thank you.

dagen: entitlement reform desperately needed. based on what the president had to say, do not hold your breath. connell: the cure for the flu. one company that is at least trying to make some money on it. capitalizing. dagen: how disturbing. you will forget you have the flu if you drink enough of it. [ laughter ] connell: we will be right back on "markets now." ♪ [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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♪ connell: there it is. making some money now with charles payne. dagen: turning your cup of joe into a big bowl of profits. charles: this is the year of coffee. it came right through at the wrong time. a record amount of coffee out

there. that hurt coffee big-time. young people, young people drinking coffee like crazy. in fact, on live strong, they try to warn them. coffee is good, but in moderation. another thing, overall, americans are drinking a lot of coffee. you would say, what did you have to drink yesterday? 64% would say coffee. coffee beating everything by far. the trends are therefore demand. if we can get production just a little less than what it was last year, jl joe is the one that i like on this. i do those all the time. right now we are at gaba. i think we are in starbucks also.

you are playing the overall demand. dagen: it is not just the drinking. it is the roasting your own beans at home and then throwing them at home and in these kind of like smallbatch coffee roasters and producers. connell: absolutely. dagen: i feel welcome there all the time. charles: did they name it after you? dagen: no. i feel at home. connell: gerri west was the inspiration for the logo. [ laughter ] charles: especially when they start selling franchises. dagen: thank you, charles. quarter past the hour. stocks now and every 15 minutes. research in motion on a winning streak. nicole: that is right. it is up about 9%. off of its earlier highs of the

day. certainly, everyone is awaiting january 30, 2000 the black area ten. they are considering some of the strategic alternative. it really pushed the stock higher that they are working with jpmorgan in order to consider these strategic options. the vix last week without lows we had not seen since 2007. it just shows that there is less fear in the market. today, moving up about 5.5%. back to you. connell: thank you. the world economic forum getting under way over there in

switzerland. as it does every time at this year. liz claman is there for us. over the next few days, she will have some more of the influential voices that you have. she has though qualcomm ceo. she has the president of marriott. bill gates later on also. tune in for that. meantime, getting sick -- never fun to actually get sick. it is costly to employers. just love watching people blow their nose on television. god bless you. dagen: you know what is worse watching it on tv -- the housing market showing signs of strength. home prices way up last year. could this be the medicine?

let's take a look at how world currencies are holding off today against the dollar. ♪ [ male announcer ] ahh... retirement. sit back, relax, pull out the paper and...what!!?? an article that says a typical family pays $155,000 in "wall street" fees on their 401(k)s? seriously? seriously. you don't believe it? search it, "401k 155k." then go to e-trade. and roll over your old 401(k)s to a new e-trade retirement account. we have every type of retirement account. none of them charge annual fees, and all of them offer low cost investments. why? because we're not your typical wall street firm, that's why. so you keep more of your money. e-trade. less for us. more for you.

>> at 21 minutes past the hour, i have your fox news minute.

u.s. cargo jets are helping troops in africa. fox news is reporting to cargo planes left france yesterday and two more are leaving today. they have retaken the town which has been held by rebels for weeks. prince harry is acknowledging killing taliban fighters. the prince of wales made the comment as he ended his tour of duty. he is returning to england later this week. we electing benjamin netanyahu for another term. the party cookbook to have fewer seats in parliament after those voting results are out tomorrow morning. netanyahu says this property is dealing with taiwan's nuclear ambitions.

connell: the nation's graduation rate hitting the highest level. that is better than 75% of them doing it on time. during 1976 topped that of the three plus billion graduates. 78% finished on time this time around. those are stats that are getting better. a controversy brewing of north after canada's new $20 bank note came out. the crisis is over at the maple leaf. many people believe it represents a norwegian maple leaf. they call it the looney, maybe for good reason. if you have not had your flu shot yet, you may not have to worry after all. there is a tiny ice cream maker that has created a flavor of

sorbet that soothes your sore throat with it. this is pretty good book stuff here. dagen: just find be the bourbon. dennis: eight dollars for a pint of this stuff. that is what it looks like. dagen: i do not want to buy anything that i will eat that is called influenza anything. influenza sorbet? connell: well -- making money. whatever. dagen: do not make me sick if you get sick. stop clearing your throat. the president does not want to go dear entitlements. the country is buried under these costs. can anything be done to fix that in d.c.? jeff flock is taking on the loopholes. connell: we will get to jeff

coming up. here are some of your individual winners on the s&p 500. ♪

the local. dagen: the third rail of politics. president obama does not want to touch politics. housing. it could be rebounding. boeing looks for and answers.

connell: let's go back to the call for another of stocks now. nicole: we have earnings season. this really shows you this back and forth action. look at that. you have housing numbers. we are back in the green. that is a kind of action we are seeing not only today, but most recently. we have been trending higher. of course, now the traders are saying you may want to take a little bit off the table. of course it is earnings season. we will keep an eye on some of these names throughout the day today. including ibm. information technology. google. analysts on track. google lower today. texas instruments. advanced micro is doing well today. in the 4:00 p.m. show today, we

will cover each one of these stocks. we will get on each want to see how they are trading after the bell. these are some of the names to watch throughout the day today. connell: nicole petallides, thank you. dagen: president obama said we needed to "make hard decisions to preserve our entitlement programs" at his first inauguration. yesterday was a little softer. >> the commitments we make their medicare, medicaid and social security, these things do not stop our initiative, they strengthen us. [ applause ] >> they do not make us a nation of takers, they free us to take the risks that make this country great. [ applause ] connell: matt welsh joining us now in the studio.

you do not have to read too far in between the lines to see the president does not want to give it anymore. >> what you see is him changing about since 2009. four years ago this week, obama gave an interview to the washington post. this has to be the generation that tackles this once and for all. yesterday, quite the contrast. he rejects the small choice between our investments in our baby boomer generation and our investments in the future, which he means spending right now on everybody. dagen: do think that this is just a speech? back cannot pay out 100% of benefits. that day is about 11 years out. >> he is wrong, actually. entitlements right now are 37%

of federal outlays. they will be 50% in 2030. democrats are saying you cannot touch social security and medicare. if you do, it has to be our way which is obamacare. otherwise, we will not even talk to. democrats are no longer interested in the type of entitlement that they used to talk about under clinton and gore. connell: you heard reports that he was given on something like raising the retirement age, for example. that was all over the place. if you are the republicans, how do you cover this politically? >> they took a baby step with this debt ceiling thing saying you pass a budget. the next step is to say, okay, as part of a program of fiscal responsibility, we have to do something about this going

forward. the reality is, republicans do not have much leverage. they lack the courage of their own convictions. they are scared silly because they think they will lose elections that way. dagen: what is the game plan down the road, though? will they just wait until we are on the verge of these programs starting to run out of at least some money and then they will raise taxes on wealthier people to fund them? there has to be a long game plan >> you are talking about these politicians acting like adults and thinking long-term. i do not think there is a long-term game plan when it comes to dealing with entitlements. connell: paul krugman wrote a big piece about that. we do not have to do with it now, just put it off.

>> just think about the debate that we are having right now. democrats are saying we need to raise taxes for government spending. it is medicare, social security, military and other things. these will be the largest chunks going forward. we will have to spend more of our money to pay for their status quo. dagen: particularly, people think, other than maybe they think that the money will be there -- >> they say that these are great programs because they liberate you from having to take care of your own parents. that is a way of thinking that they have had for a long time. connell: thank you. always good to have you on. dagen: thank you. connell: d.c.'s attack on holes and loopholes could soon be hurting your own town.

jeff: i like this story because it points out the complexity. it is not as simple as that. president obama is planning to limit the tax breaks for tax-free municipal bonds. i am standing in the new water plant in indiana. i have to bear with me. could you have finances without municipal bonds? >> we could have. it would have cost our taxpayers a lot more money. it is taking revenue from local taxpayers and transferring it to the local government. a lot of cities would not be able to build basic infrastructure improvements that they are now able to build for their citizens. jeff: they are attractive to the wealthy because they are tax-free. they are tax-free so they are

very attractive. you have a lot of democrats out there that run cities and towns all across the country that say, wait a minute, you are not just hurting the wealthy on this. >> we had over 200 people working on this plan. those jobs, had we not been able to build this plan, would not have been available during the economic downturn. jeff: mr. mayor, thank you. we will be here all day. the cost of borrowing could go up if they eliminate that tax-free nature. dagen: jeff, thank you very much for that. jeff flock. connell: the housing market showing some strong signs. dagen: the dreamliner, no dream. boeing needs some answers about battery problems. tests underway this morning. we will bring you the very latest. take a look at how treasuries are trading today.

1.85%. that is what it cost the government to borrow over ten years. does that make sense? no. ♪ ♪ [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thunder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when the world moves... futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. and trade with papermoney to test-drive the market. ♪ all on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade. ♪

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♪ >> hi, everyone. i have your fox business brief. former ceo james david has been sent to five years in federal prison. he was sentenced to a houston federal court today after he pled guilty back in 2923 fraud and conspiracy charges. at&t is buying atlantic retail wireless operation for roughly $780 million in an effort to boost its subscriber base. this network is closing the doors on 300 more blockbuster stores. roughly 3000 employees losing their jobs. it plans to launch a mobile broadband service by 2015. that is the latest from the fox business network. giving you the power to prosper. ♪

♪ dagen: you may have been waiting, not months, but years, for this news. the housing market is open chili and recovery. connell: elizabeth macdonald is here. >> up nearly 6% nationwide. they are in appreciation. they were saying that the housing market hit bottom and october 2011. here is where housing prices are really jumping. you will see the biggest hottest market is phoenix. of 22%. also, sacramento and san jose of more than 10%. riverside county. detroit up more than 6%.

you will see, you know, some bottoming out of during an atlanta and chicago. cincinnati and milwaukee, they are waiting until next year for home prices to bottom out. i know that the viewers are always wondered what is going on in my area. the federal reserve really relies on this. they are also saying that the housing bottom occurred in the fourth quarter of 2011. when you think about it, we still have the 10.7 billion target is underwater. the house prices are worth less than the mortgage. that is a problem. housing is on the bed and maybe a housing bubble. it looks like we are in recovery. watch out and expect moderate

growth. what they are talking about is we hit a trough and we are bouncing up. expect 3% growth. that is the news. connell: that is good. well done. dagen: thank you. elizabeth macdonald. we just got earlier this morning existing home sales. they were down slightly in december. down about 1%. that is still the second highest rate since november 2009. for more on this, let's bring in ed pinto. not bad. it was a little disappointing. if you look at those home price numbers, that will ultimately be what brings buyers out. they feel like they will at least not lose money at this point. >> absolutely, dagen.

it will bring more people that are under water into the market if they are interested in selling. i think to put these numbers in perspective, they are running about 5 million. that is up about 25%. down from the frothy unsustainable 7.2 million in 2005. it is interesting to note that the rate in the late 90s through about 2003 was about 5.5 million. we are approaching that. that is a sustainable level. the others will never be satisfied with that. they will want to push it back up to unsustainable levels. once you get around 5.5 million, i think that is a sustainable level. beyond that, you will start getting into trouble. dagen: it would be significantly higher interest rates from here.

thankfully, the federal reserve is in their keeping longer-term rates. are you worried in the coming year that that could throw a wrench into this? >> i do not think the next year or two, given to what the fed has said, i do not take we have that to worry about. my concern is longer-term. three or four years now. and, the fact that the government and all the regulations is coming out with, they just came out last week with the definition of this qualified mortgage. it basically defined as a prime loan, a loan with no down payment. a debt ratio of over 50%. as long as it goes through a government underwriting system. have we seen this movie before? dagen: yes and it was called fannie and freddie.

how much worse can it get, ed? >> again, i think we have to keep an eye on this. people in this business have very short memories. they say it cannot happen again. i have seen the cycles. i was out fannie and 85 when we really tight end up on the writing. i got there in late 84. by 1990, they were forgetting that. by 1990 it was going out the window. it has all ready been since 2007 when fannie and freddie tightened. i would look for them loosening. the government is forcing them to. dagen: oh, of course. it was great to talk to you. ed pinto on housing. connell: before we talk about that mess out boeing with the dreamliner. let's go to nicole petallides. nicole: we have earnings seasons. we have headlines.

let's start off with some of the movers here that i am keeping an eye on. 2013 looking good for operating margins. it is up almost 20% just for january alone. they spoke up 3.7%. groupon think that they will no longer, right now, they are not giving discounts on unrelated things. how about verizon. out with their numbers. tough quarter, but better outlook. johnson and johnson give the best part of their report. therapies. that helps their numbers ultimately. back to you. dagen: international lease finance corporation of plotting the aircraft maker for keeping the company informed all the

problems that resulted in a couple of emergency landings of these new 787. connell: now testing the battery chargers. dan springer live in seattle with more. >> investigators with the national transportation safety board are in arizona just outside of tucson today conduct a test on the battery chargers. over the weekend, the ntsb released a statement saying the battery had not been overcharged. when you look at the picture of it, you can tell clearly that it was overheated. investigators will be there doing a number of tests to see if it was working properly. remember, in our boston fire, it was the backup battery that overheated and started a fire.

the battery that overheated was near the front of the plane on a japanese flight. dagen: dan, it also seems that japanese and u.s. authorities have a different task when it comes to investigating these problems. they are going in different direction so they can cover all of the bases. they were made in japan by a company. a boeing source tells me the serial numbers of the two batteries that overheated are close together. that initial thought was it was a bad batch of batteries. that would be a good thing. that now appears less likely. investigators have not found any anonymously's. the investigation is focusing on the entire electrical system and how those lithium batteries factor in.

that is a major focus of this investigation. back to you. connell: dan, thank you. dan springer reporting from seattle. dagen: code logging onto facebook bring you down? one study says yes. new details ahead. connell: also coming up, we will take another look at the markets. here are the winners today on the nasdaq. ♪ ♪

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connell: some breaking news i want to pass along from jay carney's news briefing. the republican pledged to raise the debt ceiling de-escalate on news of uncertainty. they are welcoming the news, essentially. of course, the white house wants to raise it permanently. dagen: it looks like facebook is changing your status to miserable. a new study from researchers in germany of all places reveals that one in three people that visit the social networking site feel miserable and jealous just moments after signing off. , the triggers, guess what, it is all live. connell: that more people post about being happy on facebook,

the more miserable i assume they are. dagen: it is all lies. connell: manti te'o back to the names on the dow today. dagen: it was busy indeed. sandra: look at the dow. we did have some standouts when it came to earnings. take a look at the dow. it is a volatile one. here is the dow 30. just to show you what these earnings are doing for the dow right now. travelers are best performer right now. this is also, by the way, one of the best performers on the s&p 500 right now. profits for travelers down. however, the results were better than expected and a forecast

higher premiums for 2013. dagen: we do have some breaking news to bring you about dell. this is coming from charlie gasparino. that microsoft is one of several mini investors. several hedge funds are also looking at making an investment in the computer company. whether microsoft moves in dealing with momentum over existing shareholder concerns about pricing. connell: kind of interesting. there you go. dagen: president obama pushing for alternative energy measures, including wind power. connell: dennis and cheryl are coming up. they will have more on all of this. keep it here. ♪ twins. i didn't see them coming.

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dennis: it is almost noon. cheryl: the president pushing for alternative energy including wind power. making money on it or is this a lot of hot air? dennis: washington insider and what he sees as more political gridlock ahead and washington insider on how you can make money on that. cheryl: and maybe we are not out of the housing basement yet. existing home sales taking a surprising drop today. dennis: and an exclusive interview with the ceo and president of coldwell banker. cheryl: stocks now every 15 minutes, nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. some breaking news on dell. nicole: in the last half-hour the trades have been on the move. you can see this is an intraday chart, you can see a path happening for dell taking off, microsoft selling off all on the

chatter about who is going to be moving in and making a bid for dell. charlie gasparino has been on this as well. microsoft one of the several investors in dell. microsoft exploring potential with several hedge funds reported to be interested in dell and the price is the key whether or not microsoft make that investment in dell. existing shareholders have concerns about the price, momentum is something we continue to follow, is it slowing. charlie gasparino reported some of these headlines as we continue to follow on the fox business network but no doubt we have followed since the beginning, potential interested parties and the stock itself has been soaring up almost 30% this month. back to you. dennis: president obama laying out a liberal vision in his inaugural address including a push for alternative energy.

president obama: we cannot concede to other nations the technology to empower new jobs and new industry, we must claim its promise. dennis: our next guest says there's no way republican house will go along with any of that. chief political strategist research group sees more gridlock ahead. greg valliere, thanks for being with us. i just read a good line you wrote. let's start there. >> i am not an obama basher but thought it was exceptionally partisan speech, sounded like a campaign speech and hubristic in a sense overreaching. climate change, wide range of issues i think we'll have a very hard time making through congress. dennis: do you think we're headed toward that unwanted sequester in part because of the gridlock that you see is emerging here? >> yes, we do. we begin the month of march with a sharp sequester on domestic spending. it takes play on laboratory companies dealing with at my

age, and a big play for defense stocks. i would not be bold enough to predict the sequester last all year, but could last for several months. dennis: wall street overall had been betting again and again washington will work these things out, they will figure out the debt ceiling. are you now bleaker in your outlook because of what you have heard yesterday? >> i think we will get a debt to income because republicans poll numbers are so terrible. the last thing they need is another pr debacle so they will cave on the debt ceiling i'm quite convinced. sequesters different from the republicans can demand some offset in spending cuts, so we will have a big debate on new spending restraint in the next month or two. dennis: if you heard the president's speech yesterday, i didn't hear the word deficit hardly at all. i did not hear about the growth of the economy, just everybody

makes sure they have to have a chicken in every pot. >> you can be guaranteed on the state of the union address in on the 12th of february he will talk about new investments, high-speed rail, that means spending and it is not going to happen, nowhere in the world that can get through the house. dennis: thank you for being with us today. cheryl: president obama tries to push through his agenda for the next four years, what can you do to make some money right now for the next four years. management and chief investment strategist joins me now. let's talk about where we have been the last four years. gained 65%. the s&p gained 75%. are you bullish about the next four years for the market? >> yes, i am fundamentally. basically the federal reserve has done a magical job at the appreciating the value of our

currency, lowering interest rates to the point it is now pushing asset prices up because money earns nothing in a bank account or a mattress. it is going to stocks and bonds in houston. -- housing. the money will continue to flow into stocks. cheryl: one of the things that has been a volatile sector is the energy sector whether you're talking about coal, alternative, etc. you say you have to walk away from this, there will be more pressure. >> absolutely. we heard it from mr. obama's inaugural speech yesterday. he renewed his push for clean energy and of course start thinking about the dirtiest energy and that is coal. the new technologies, the phrack and technologies pushing on the price of natural gas making coal less economical.

given mr. obama's initiative and given where we are with natural gas. cheryl: another group you do like performing amazingly it the technology sector. if you look at the group under this president up 100% whether he can take credit for that or not, i will not say, but technology is a positive. we're getting apple's numbers tomorrow. you are saying go for the tech. >> absolutely. if you're ibm, hewlett-packard had an off year. let's focus on apple, but now we're seeing not everyone wants an iphone 5. given the superior dividend, the space, the fact intel and microsoft slowing the dividends double-digit the last five years, given the continued need for more technology, more investors push into that area.

cheryl: looking forward to apple's earnings, google, but intel, disappointment in your eyes out of intel? >> it seems to me it was overdone by investors. they don't have the footholds quite yet in the mobile sector, but spending about 17 billion in terms of research and development, they will get there. on top of that people were cautious about the plan. 4.4% dividend given a ten-year treasury. cheryl: one more sector want to go through is health care. a negative of the health legislation in the last term going forward, what about the big pharmaceutical names, what about johnson and johnson, merck, are these names to bet on in the next four years? >> basically, yeah. i think we heard in mr. obama's speech still medicare for all, if one needs that safety net.

you have to be careful there isn't propriety put on those drugs. of course you have the global reach, other countries want that that we have enjoyed. fundamentally merck and pfizer and johnson & johnson, we do need. cheryl: thank you very much for coming in. >> thank you. dennis: a reduction in tax breaks and loopholes could soon start to take a toll on your account. cheryl: jeff flock from indiana. jeff. jeff: do you hear that, guys? listen. that is the sound of water flowing through $30 million water plant here in indiana financed by the way with tax-free municipal bonds. helping wealthy people, right, mr. mayor? why don't we try to soak the wealthy people?

>> there's a lot of unintended consequences when people start to do that, one of the unintended consequences in the case would be 200 construction workers would not have had jobs. this water plant would not have been built and not a lot of building in the general area because we could provide water. jeff: you rely on the tax-free nature of visible bonds and they tend to help wealthy people off because wealthy people have tax issues so they help the wealthy and republicans and democrats have said maybe we have to close some of these loopholes. >> it is simply putting the tax burden back on local taxpayers. supposedly creating revenue for the federal government but it will cost local taxpayers in the cities and every time they build a hospital or university or a road, more money. jeff: i want to take a look at one more thing, look at the cost of borrowing.

the cost of borrowing like yours is at an all-time low. what is wrong with that? >> we know everything goes up and down, the slow term rates are not going to be low forever. everybody understands that. jeff: and i would point out even though president obama has put this idea forward, the notion of eliminating or reducing the tax-free nature of municipal bonds, lots of mayors and folks like this man all across the country save that idea. dennis: thank you very much. cheryl: surprise dip in home sales in the month of december. we have exclusive interview with coldwell banker ceo, the new ceo of the company, what is ahead for this year. dennis: walt disney ceo, the $40 million man. is he worth it?

cheryl: and could a cold treats prevent you from getting the flu? why eating it could be as good as getting the flu shot. still ahead. dennis: sounds a lot more fun. as we do every day, a look at oil.

cheryl: we're coming up on 15 past the hour. stocks every 15 minutes i "markets now." we have team coverage for you. phil flynn on the bits of the cme. sandra smith on earnings. first, to nicole on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole: i'm looking at a market with seesaw action, back-and-forth, and we are seeing the dow and the s&p with up arrow speed the dow gained 24-point, one-tenth of 1%. and the tech heavy nasdaq down

.2%. we watched apple going back and forth, apple to the upside, the vix is higher once again. some names down are including coke. and it is earnings season so lots of names after the bell. phil flynn. phil: gold and silver are all on fire today. gold up over $8 right now mainly because doubling the inflation reading, used to be 1%, now 2%, the japanese will keep printing yen. you better buy some gold to offset it. citigroup lowered the gold estimate back down because it ty can't get above $1800. india putting in a new tax on gold holding us back a little bit, but platinum and silver seem to be leading the way

today. continuing concern of production shortfall in south america is really slowing things down right now. sandra, what are things looking like i'm the wizard right now? sandra: look at this, typing up the dow intraday chart, making the highest of the session as we speak 25 points. a lot of his continuing on optimism over better-than-expected earnings. look at the s&p 500, a lot of companies making of the s&p 500 putting on earnings better-than-expected. and a handful out after the bell tonight. texas instruments is one of them. that stock is lower. amd reporting after the bell. along with tech giant ibm. a turnaround story. a lot of investors looking after a rocky third quarter. lastly, google out after the bell tonight, one of the stocks in the seven hundreds with volatility ahead of that report

just below $700 per share. and on friday the company said it could be some confusion over earnings. not pricing in the home unit, but analysts expecting $10.47 per share of google, after the bell. stay tuned for all of these earnings, could definitely be big movers. dennis: thank you very much. time to make money a my all thih charles payne. looking at copper and gold. gold trying to get back up there. charles: gold is interesting because gold prices year-over-year didn't change very much. it was all about copper. just beyond what the street was expecting. that is good, that speaks to the global economy coming back. the alloy used in steel was a big drag, but with lower economy starting to come back, all that

will come back and the point phil flynn made about gold, gold isn't running the way it was putting up 11, 12 years in a row. still two minutes amount of money printing around the world even though japan says we will do a lot of this next year rather than this year, the fact of the matter is the long-term investor this stock is down a lot, down from a high of $60, risk-reward is tremendous. dennis: fearless forecast. thanks, charles payne. cheryl: we're getting breaking news into "markets now" right now. the governor of nebraska putting pressure on the white house to approve the keystone xl pipeline. dennis: up to the minute details inside the beltway. rich: nebraska remove a significant barrier to building the keystone xl pipeline. in former president obama he will prove the pipeline construction through his estate. yet opposed it because it's traversed environmentally

sensitive area of nebraska. transcanada rerouted it, and he just approved it. obama administration makes the final call on his officials have in the past white house press secretary put the decision on the state department. >> the state department is conducting its assessment as appropriate and has been standard over the years. on behalf of the federal government, i don't want to get ahead of that process. rich: a year ago the government denied the permit saying they needed more time to review the environmental impasse. making this decision all the more difficult for the administration, especially given the president's remarks on climate change during his inaugural address. administration expected to decide on the pipeline in the first quarter of this year. back to you. cheryl: that breaking news in the keystone xl pipeline. thank you very much.

december existing home sales taking a hit month over month, but a yearly number of 12.8%. dennis: an exclusive interview next with the president and ceo of coldwell banker. cheryl: look at the world currencies, talking about inflation, deflation, japan. here are your currencies versus the u.s. dollar. we will be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen anjeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they' gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

>> 23 minutes past the hour, this is your fox news minutes. nebraska governor approved a new route for the keystone xl pipeline. this time avoid a central areas going around the grass covered sand dunes. cargo jets are helping troops fight islamic militants in africa. fox news reporting cargo planes left france yesterday and two more are leaving today. forces to retake in the town which had been held by rebels for weeks. britain's prince harry is acknowledging killing taliban fighters during his four and a half month deployment in afghanistan. he made the comments as he ended his tour of duty as a gunner and copilot in the apache helicopter. the 20th euro this returning later this week.

those are your headlines. back to you. cheryl: thank you very much. december existing home sales missing estimates for 160,000 houses sold, but that is a lot of optimism on the ground. a new survey shows realtors expect much better sales in 2013. joining me now with details in a fox business exclusive interview, coldwell banker ceo, budge huskey. let's talk about these numbers come existing home sales. what do you make of the drop in december and the optimism about 2013? >> if you look at the month over month drop, that is typical seasonality. far more relevant are the year-over-year figures. december this past year 2012, 2011 sales up an even more significant than that is what happened to median home prices is quoted by the national association of realtors up 11%

year over year. inventory dropping to 4.4 months versus what is assumed to be equilibrium at six months, it is creating an environment of optimism we're seeing reflected in the survey from our agents. cheryl: money is basically free, inventory is low, great time to be a seller, what about the younger generation? will there be activity in that group? >> we are seeing a reversal in household formation because we know in the last few years it dropped as low as 400,000 versus what was historic average of 1.3 million. the figures for 2012 came in one, 1.1 million. projections closer to 1.3 million. returning to normal amount of new entries into the marketplace and that is now releasing what is the move up b buyer.

more having conversations with sellers about putting their homes on the market. cheryl: they will sell right now, and low interest rates is a good time to buy as well. you do a survey of your agents, the guys and gals on the ground. i think this is really interesting, 54% say there's a lot of buyers out there, but 66% say sales are going to have to happen, very bullish on 2013. >> that was a figure indicated for the percentage of people who would enter the market, the sellers can come back in the market with the level of distressed assets, foreclosures being reduced. cleared out, we're now finding more sellers they are realizing now is a great time to reenter the market, move on to the next chapter of our lives.

cheryl: is key to selling a home in this environment, and they're still saying 58% you need a new or updated kitchen and in the bathroom. kitchen, bathroom, master suite. what do you make of these numbers? >> movi moving back to a traditl market. if you look at the surveys over the last couple of years he saw things like media room and more exotic. that is what people traditionally want. a traditional market which is where the market needs to be. cheryl: budge huskey, thank you for coming on the show. >> thank you so much. dennis: investigators testing the lithium-ion batteries. we're live in seattle with the latest. take a look at today's winners s

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nicole: i am nicole petallides every 15 minutes on the fox business network. a look at the key names on wall street, that is dish network. take a look at the stock itself moving to a new annual high. actually back to levels we have not seen since 2007. all of this is one news they're closing some of their underperforming blockbuster stores or will leave them with 500 remaining. about 3000 jobs. i used to love to go to blockbuster, but that was a lot

of fun looking through the movies. certainly underperforming stores. cheryl: a lot of expensive real estate. thank you very much, appreciate it, nicole. house republicans getting started on a measure that would extend the debt ceiling to nearly four months in the white house just said the president would sign it. congressman, the president and the white house coming out saying he would approve of this. do you believe the president is being earnest in his convictions on the debt ceiling? >> it is good news is agreeing in principle to sign the bill. that gives us through may the 18th to come up with a plan to really reform government reform spending and pass a permanent debt ceiling increase for the remainder of this year.

we want to give the president senate democrats an opportunity to work with us but house republicans are committed to addressing the spending issues straight up in the next three months, three and a half months and get the job done. cheryl: a look at your voting record and you voted no on the fiscal cliff despite the fact the fiscal cliff deal past and here we are now. chuck schumer already speaking out on the democratic side saying we will look at this, but we're also going to want to increase taxes. that was a flat-ou flat out linm senator schumer. will the senate rain on this parade? >> the senate reins in every parade everyday. that is not an earth flash there. i voted against raising taxes on any americans for the majority in the house and the senate and the president said some taxes have to go up.

i disagreed with that. i didn't think the leadership was going to be in any mood, i know the rank-and-file will not be in any mood to raise taxes. doesn't mean we can't raise some revenue with sales and asset sales and things like that, but in terms of tax increases, i think every house republican would vote no on a pure tax increase. cheryl: spending reductions. i know you and many of your republican colleagues in the house have said and how it programs have to be addressed, but if you recall, said absolutely there would be no discussion of cutting any type of entitlement program whether it's social security or medicare or medicaid. are you going to propose those plans anyway and see where it gets you? >> two-thirds of federal spending is entitlement spending. only one third is discretionary, it is year-to-year. if you're going to balance the

budget and house republicans are serious about balancing the budget, you have to be reform of the entitlement programs. it doesn't mean people won't have their social security checks reduced or anything like that, but the basic programs can be reformed, can be changed so there is something for not just this generation but future generations. cheryl: we will certainly been watching all this playing out because it will affect americans and many investors. thank you for being here. >> this is the bill, should be on the floor sometime tomorrow. cheryl: we love seeing props on television, congressman. dennis: member, he said the senate reins on parades everyday. now let's talk 2013, the world economic forum just getting underway in switzerland. business leaders from around the world gathering right now.

liz claman is there to bring us some of the most influential power players including microsoft bill gates and coke ceo tomorrow morning here on fox business. the third wheel of politics, president obama does not want to touch entitlements so will he just le lets the economy burn in debt? cheryl: california sticks dysfun turning into a win for wisconsin. take profits off of california problems. dennis: the $40 million pay package at disney, why that big number could still be a deal for disney investors. (announcer) scottrade knows our clients trade and invest their own way. with scottrade's smart text, i can quickly understand my charts, and spend more time trading. their quick trade bar lets my account follow me online so i can react in real-time. plus, my local scottrade office is there to help.

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>> i'm tracy byrnes with your fox business brief. part 18 months from government securities a settlement with the securities and exchange commission. the sec alleged they made material misstatements registry to set up a rating agency. telling fox business that are very pleased they settled with the sec on mutual terms. they were agency warns the effects of the crisis means of employment will continue to rise even though world economies aren't expected to improve. five my people will lose their jobs this year. an eu court ruled in favor of

using the buzz trademark settling a century old feud with tech company. that is the latest from the fox business network giving you the power to prosper.

cheryl: it is time for your "west coast minute." a gun buyback program is being called a success. gift cards were handed out in exchange for 386 weapons pointed at the event. officials say in the wake of recent shootings, they will be holding many more similar programs in the near future. a feud among dairy producer in california could be great news for wisconsin cheese makers. they have benefited for years because they paid lower milk prices. but if the playing field is leveled, the difference could be worth 200 million in sales. shifting to wisconsin cheese.

it makes good fondue. although it has been confirmed the sacramento kings have been sold retail investor, seattle fans may want to hold off on celebrating. the nba still has to confirm the deal and at that point sacramento mayor, former nba star himself, could submit a counter offer. there are also losses in seattle about a new arena. we will keep you posted on the west coast minutes. dennis: president obama is not budget on entitlements but absent from his address yesterday, how he plans to tackle some hard choices strumming medicare, medicaid, social security. joining me now, star parker, who usually takes a conservative republican approach to these issues. thank you for being with us. the president came out with a liberal call to action. clinton had moved to center his second term, looks like president obama is headed for the left in his. what do you say?

>> farther left than even liberalism, this is progressive, we like the status quo, we don't mind everything turning to big government welfare state. you look at social security and medicare, these programs must be reformed or they will turn to welfare programs similar to medicaid. i don't think barack obama nor his liberal friends in the democratic party in the senate and or the congress or the house mind that happen. it is up to republicans and conservatives who make the case before the american people that is not the right way to go. we need to move more toward a free society which means people should be able to save for their own future. dennis: the president rejected the believe he must choose between caring for the older generation investing in the next generation, but don't we have to make some choices here? cheryl: depends on what i you sy choose between one or the other.

we know this particular administration likes to put one group against the other. what he should be doing if he cares about the use of this nation is helping them transition out of the big government programs into private accounts. that is the only answer when it comes to social security reform because anything else would be unacceptable. you start talking moving retirement ages, then you will have outright. the reason these two entitlements are different for medicaid is the person that receives the benefit in medicaid is not the person who paid for it. that is not what we want for social security and medicare. dennis: i see. they don't sap our initiative, they strengthen us. if you look at unemployment by race, american blacks have a higher unemployment rate than asians and latin americans who have been in the country last time. do you think there's any cause and effect in terms of government programs? >> it is absolutely government

programs. big government approaches with the welfare state and those who work directly for government. almost half of your community dependent in some form of government you will have not just liberalism but you will have lack of jobs in those particular communities because we don't have an economic base. all money coming from government is not a good idea. dennis: is he out running even his own party, getting more liberal than mainstream democratic party? >> he is progressive, but now he has foisted that. they wanted their agenda passed, but liberals like the clintons and others that were more are me political than they were about a worldview and changing our society. this administration has nothing to lose to try to transform us into what we see in cuba or venezuela. dennis: thank you very much, appreciate you being with us. cheryl: always fascinating.

stocks every 15 minutes, nicole petallides is of course on the floor of the new york stock exchange. you are looking at the tech movers. nicole: looking at some of the tech related stocks, cheryl and dennis. dell the name grabbing headlines, continuing to follow potential talk of takeovers, buyouts, investors. today's stock is microsoft may be one of the interested parties. charlie gasparino will continue to follow that for you as well. hewlett-packard a big competitor in that realm, up about a quarter of a percent, reporting their quarterly numbers today intinthe 4:00 p.m. show. stay tuned for that. let's take a look at apple and all the tablet and computer wars. not hold in the $500 mark. back to you.

cheryl: nicole, thank you very much. dennis: boeing officials so to get to the bottom of the grounding of their dreamliners. cheryl: dan springer live in seattle with the details. what can you tell us about this turn in the investigation? >> it is moving rapidly, that is just fine with boeing, they want to get those planes back in the air as soon as possible. in arizona today just outside of tucson conducting tests on the battery charger on the 77 plane that had the fire at boston logan international airport. they said the battery had not been overcharged, but when you look at the picture come you can see clearly overheated, so still trying to pinpoint the exact problem. we have a camera outside the headquarters, the company that made the dream liner, investigators will be there doing a number of tests to see

if it was working properly. we are told they will download from the ap you controller. in boston it was the auxiliary power unit, the battery at the back of the plane that caught fire. the battery that overheated radiance emergency landing at airline flight near the front of the plane. japanese officials are doing their own investigation, they are focusing more the battery. this is something boeing wants to get a handle on quickly to get the players back in the air. we were told a customer has been told by boeing to express delivery on time in april. that is the good news for that airline industry are optimistic this will be wrapped up, they will be able to deliver an airplane on time to a customer in norway. cheryl: if they can keep on schedule, which has been the biggest complaints from the customer vantage. thank you very much.

well, getting sick is never fun, it is costly to companies, but one answer to the flu may be a pint of sorbet. dennis: guess how much the stock growth, up over 70%. cheryl: take a look at the winners over on the nasdaq. a big week for technology earnings. facebook even breaking the top five. we will be right back.

dennis: time for your media minute. $4 million is a lot to pay and a ceo, but is deputy ceo robert iger a steal at that price? what a stellar year. the stock price up 76% in the fiscal year ending last september. earningearnings-per-share risin. disney rising stock price beats the payoff, less than 30%, less than half disney's price. meanwhile recent rumors of the financial times could be put up for sale could intensify asking for 35 volunteer resignations from the print edition to clear up cash for the online edition. some say their latest the online party. and hollywood loves president obama. but a lot of hollywood stayed home rather than going to washington for the inauguration.

many stars who attended president obama's first inauguration didn't attend this one including steven spielberg, oprah winfrey, dustin hoffman, did the washington and even film maker spike lee. cheryl: is because they look at their taxes for the first two weeks of 2013 instead i'm not going to see this guy. i just got massively hit in my wallet with my paycheck. i have so many friends calling me saying there is something wrong with my paycheck. no, there is not. if you are one of the many americans battling the flu this year, ice may be what the doctor ordered. a flavor containing many of the home remedies to deviat alleviae flu symptoms. ginger, honey, cayenne pepper, bourbon. dennis: no chicken soup flavor?

when i had bronchitis, it was the chicken soup that really heals you. cheryl: this flu season is like any other flu season i have seen in my lifetime. children and the elderly and everything in between being affected. the numbers are amazing. and you can't get tamiflu. dennis: good for drugmakers. let's talk more on the tax rates. phil mickelson is backtracking on his rant on taxes. but does not blame him for being upset, joining melissa and lori next. cheryl: this will be great, inside look at the sec. peter barnes has an exclusive interview with the agencies top cop. that is coming up as well 1:30 eastern time. we will be back on "markets now."